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Sarcasm Useful For Detecting Dementia

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the yeah-that'll-work dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Sarcasm may be the lowest form of wit, but Australian scientists are using it to diagnose dementia, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of New South Wales, found that patients under the age of 65 suffering from frontotemporal dementia (FTD), the second most common form of dementia, cannot detect when someone is being sarcastic."

2 of 389 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Sarcasm mark by Andr+T. · · Score: 3, Informative

    I have a friend who said once that you can give sexual meaning to any statement as long as you end it with "if you know what I mean". Something like:

    Now I will recompile my kernel, if you know what I mean.

    Maybe people could use a sentence like that to imply sarcasm... maybe 'Obviously'.

    ...if you know what I mean.

    --

    Any life is made up of a single moment, the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is.

  2. sarcasm is cultural.... by Brigadier · · Score: 3, Informative

    sarcasm is cultural.... I grew up in Jamaica, after moving to the US I had a very hard time understanding sarcasm which is very common here. In my experience growing up in Jamaica sarcasm wasn't common at all.